Waves
by Miss Mysty
Summary: Two-shot.  In an attempt to spend more time with Hiyo, Kirishima decides to bring her to the beach.  And, of course, Yokozawa has no choice but to be dragged along with them.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Most times, Yokozawa was more than thankful that the sales department didn't keep as late hours as the manga magazines. The last three days, he had gone to Kirishima's apartment to take care of Hiyo by himself. This last night, though, Kirishima had assured him he'd be back before Hiyo went to bed, but Kirishima's mother still went over and helped with dinner.

"Well, he's been working for Japun for years, so of course I know things like this will happen," she said as she manically worked the curry around. Yokozawa hardly ever had anything to do when she was over; she was the one who taught Hiyo to cook, after all, and she enjoyed it. This time, he was at least able to put a salad together. "Hiyo would never admit it, of course, but I know she'd rather spend time with her father than me."

"Yeah." Yokozawa put the knife he'd been cutting carrots with down and dumped the last of the ingredients in the salad bowl. "He does try, though."

"Well of course. But after Zen's wife died, he seemed to put more focus into his work. He rose up the ladder pretty quickly." She said it absentmindedly, and when she turned to Yokozawa, she didn't even seem to notice the alarmed face he was sporting. "You work for that publishing company as well, don't you? Have you noticed anything?"

Yokozawa coughed into a hand and turned away so he could put the salad into the fridge. "Yes, but I work in Sales so I don't see him a lot during the day." He ran a hand through his hair as he considered what she had told him, vaguely noting that she had changed the subject to something a lot less volatile.

It was true that they didn't always get to see each other. Kirishima did his best to get home by six o'clock so he could be there for Hiyo, but Yokozawa himself often had work to do and would pass on going over in favor of doing it at his own apartment. Zen and Hiyori Kirishima were probably the biggest distractions in his life, and as much as he hated it, he had to have self-imposed rules if he was going to get any work done. Kirishima of course did it on purpose, but Hiyo didn't even need to try to make Yokozawa forget about paperwork or project proposals in favor of watching a movie, helping her with her homework, or any other warmly domestic thing he found himself doing with her and her father.

Times like this, though, when Kirishima was under the crush of deadlines and just couldn't keep his promises, Yokozawa found himself sleeping over and spending more time with Hiyo than her father managed to. Hiyo still called him 'Oniichan' rather than some iteration of father, which he was fine with. Well, except maybe for the fact that it was slightly creepy that even if she didn't know it, her 'Oniichan' was sleeping with her Papa.

Just as Kirishima's mother took the curry off the stove, the front door opened and a world-weary "I'm home" sounded through the apartment. Hiyo had been doing her summer homework since she was relieved of cooking duty that evening, but at her father's voice, she burst from her room to greet him. She stopped just short of the genkan when she saw her father was bracing himself for impact. "Hey, Hiyo. Is your grandma here?"

"And Oniichan!" Hiyo said with a big smile. Yokozawa leaned out of the kitchen to confirm the accusation, but he leaned back out of view when he saw the rather lecherous smile Kirishima had when Hiyo ran back to her room. Hiyo, of course, missed both of these actions and said from her room, "Grandma said she'd bring me out for ice cream after dinner! Just the two of us. She said something about girl time."

Yokozawa started coughing at that, knowing that the time Hiyo spent out with her grandmother would not be spent doing the dishes or anything nearly as wholesome as that. Not that he necessarily protested, of course, it was just the thought that Hiyo could come home at any time and catch them that made him think about the most direct routes out of the apartment.

He was right, of course, about what was going to happen. As soon as Hiyo and her grandmother were out of the apartment, Kirishima locked the door and pulled Yokozawa to the couch.

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't want to do these things out here?" Yokozawa demanded right before Kirishima kissed him. The rest of his protests died in his throat, and he felt himself slip down into the warm comfort of the couch almost as if he were just a visitor in his body rather than in control of it. It was only when Kirishima broke the kiss and let his hand drift to Yokozawa's pants that Yokozawa got his wits about him again. "Hey, stop it!"

Kirishima looked slightly annoyed as he rolled over to sit on the couch and Yokozawa wiped at his mouth. "Geeze, you're so grumpy sometimes, I forget how cute you really are."

"_Who's_ cute?" Yokozawa asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Well you, of course. And it's been so long since we've been alone that I thought you'd want to as well." Kirishima put a hand to his mouth as he yawned widely, his eyes unfocused behind his messy bangs. He was clearly too tired for the physical activity he'd been hoping to participate in.

Seeing that he wasn't at risk of being pounced again, Yokozawa stood up and headed towards the kitchen. Hiyo had gotten the tea kettle and chamomile tea out for them before she left, because she seemed to understand better than anyone when Kirishima really needed to sleep, even better than Kirishima himself. "You haven't spent much time with Hiyo lately, either," he said as he went to fill the kettle. "Her summer vacation started so she doesn't have school to distract her."

Kirishima sighed and folded his arms across the back of the couch as he watched his boyfriend prepare tea. "You know my mother specifically brought Hiyo out for dessert so we could do exactly what you're avoiding."

Yokozawa's face heated up, but he managed to warp the blush into a scowl as he put the kettle down on the stove. "Your mother doesn't even know about us."

"Like hell," Kirishima said good-naturedly. "Yokozawa, my mother isn't stupid. And we act enough like an old married couple to make it obvious, anyway." He just smiled innocently when Yokozawa glared at him, and then he sighed and laid down on the couch. "But you're right. I suppose I should take the opportunity to spend time with _both_ of you."

Yokozawa glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall, which Hiyo dutifully crossed a day off of every morning. His own sense of time and days was rather eschew with his sometimes strange work schedule, but it was, apparently, Friday night. He had the day off, and Kirishima did in theory. The entire time through dinner, however, no one had thought to ask him if he really was done with whatever had been keeping him at work late or if he had just managed to escape for the night. The fact that he was there at all just made them happy, and bringing up work didn't seem appropriate at the time.

With the water set to boiling, Yokozawa considered going into the living room while he waited and brainstorming with Kirishima places Hiyo might like to go. When he went over to the couch, though, Kirishima was fast asleep. Yokozawa just rolled his eyes and quietly padded back into the kitchen to put one of the mugs away.

xxx

The next morning, Yokozawa found himself waking up quite miserable and sticky. He'd ended up staying the night with the Kirishimas even though he'd only planned to if Kirishima couldn't keep his promise to be home before Hiyo went to bed. It didn't really matter, though, considering Yokozawa kept sleep clothes, work clothes and casual clothes there, if rather unintentionally. It just kind of happened, and Kirishima was more than happy to send his suits for dry cleaning or add the rest of his clothes to the wash on laundry day.

To Yokozawa's credit, the reason he woke up sticky that morning was because it was hot, and the air conditioner they had installed in his room was busted. Even if it wasn't, he would've been reluctant to have it on all night simply because it would mean higher electric bills for Kirishima, who refused to let him contribute to bills as long as he didn't actually live there.

Yokozawa's chagrin at the high temperature was interrupted when he heard Hiyo exclaiming happily. He managed to drag himself out of bed in time for her to run past his door and to her own room, saying that she needed to pack. A quick glance at his alarm clock confirmed that it was four-thirty in the morning, and he nearly choked.

"What the hell?" he asked when he saw Kirishima in the kitchen, fully dressed and casually drinking a cup of coffee.

Kirishima smiled when he saw Yokozawa, and he said, "Oh, at least I don't have to wake you. Hurry up and pack something to swim in."

"…dare I ask why?"

"I thought we'd go to Isshiki Beach for the day," Kirishima said, shrugging like it was no big deal. When Yokozawa just gaped at him, he said, "Well, you're the one who said I needed to spend more time with Hiyo. And we both have the day off. So why not?"

Yokozawa could see inside Hiyo's room since she hadn't thought to shut the door, and she looked so happy as she packed the blue swimsuit her grandmother had gotten her back in June that Yokozawa couldn't really protest. He could, however, secretly think that Kirishima was insane.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The first thing Yokozawa ended up doing when they got to the beach, right after he changed into swim trunks at Kirishima's insistence, was take a nap. He was tired, when it came right down to it, and just because he was being dragged around on this trip didn't mean he had to relax in the exact ways Kirishima approve of.

Of course, leaving himself wide-open for Kirishima and Hiyo to have fun with him probably wasn't the best idea. They'd brought shovels so Hiyo could make sand castles, and as soon as Kirishima saw that Yokozawa was dead to the world, he broke them out and they started burying him. Hiyo couldn't stop herself from giggling as she got sand closer to the shore so it would cake and stay in place better, and Yokozawa started stirring before they were entirely done.

Hiyo stopped burying him with buckets of sand, but Kirishima merrily continued with his task, dumping shovelfuls on his chest and humming until Yokozawa woke up enough to realize what was going on. "What the hell."

"Language, Yokozawa. Hiyo's right here," Kirishima said without a care in the world. He pointed to Hiyo, who smiled and dumped another bucket on him.

"Unbury me right now," Yokozawa said, doing his best to keep his voice level.

"No," Kirishima answered simply. He jumped in surprise when Yokozawa managed to move by himself despite the sand heaped on him, and without a second thought, he scooped Hiyo up onto his shoulders and shouted, "Run, Hiyo!"

Hiyo giggled madly as they ran down the beach, getting odd looks from other people as Yokozawa struggled to get to his feet and run after them. "I told you it was a bad idea, Papa!"

"Hey, you went with it, too!" Kirishima replied. Yokozawa was finally running after them, and Kirishima decided to go into the water. Yokozawa had said earlier that he didn't really like swimming, so the hope was that he wouldn't catch them if they went in there.

Of course, what he hadn't anticipated was Yokozawa throwing the shovel and buckets at them from the shore and saying, "You really need to grow up."

"Not true," Kirishima said, taking Hiyo from his shoulders and letting her get the bucket and shovels. "You're just too uptight for your own good. Of course I could do something about that."

Yokozawa blushed at that, turning his head so he could hide his face when Hiyo looked at him. It seemed the comment had gone right over her head, because she said, "Papa, can I get a beach ball from one of the stands?"

"Sure, Hiyo," Kirishima said, his voice full of laughter. His eyes were even twinkling as Hiyo ran back to their spot on the beach to get some money, hands still full of sand castle supplies. Yokozawa sighed and sat down there at the edge of the water, it pushing up to lap against his toes every few seconds, and Kirishima plopped down beside him. "Ah, you were right, I wasn't spending enough time with her. These days I'm always surprised at how cute she still is." He pushed his bangs out of his eyes before turning to Yokozawa and added, "Never forget that about you, though."

"I still don't see how you can think I'm cute," Yokozawa said, rolling his eyes. He leaned away from Kirishima when he moved closer and said, "We're in public, Kirishima-san."

"And your point is?" Kirishima shifted his eyes over to Hiyo, who'd retrieved enough to get a beach ball and was going over to one of the beach toy stands. "I was under the impression that your only protest was Hiyo finding out about us, and currently, she's over there." He pointed vaguely in Hiyo's direction, and Yokozawa scowled and stood up. "You're no fun."

"Why don't you go spend some time with your daughter like the original plan was?" Yokozawa muttered.

Kirishima seemed to think about that, and then he stood up and put a hand on Yokozawa's back, guiding him along as well. "She's as good as your daughter too, you know."

"She still sees me as her older brother," Yokozawa said, glaring at the hand Kirishima had on his back but not pushing it away or saying anything about it. It was a small concession he could give, and it would hopefully prevent Kirishima from compensating for his rejections by getting even more touchy.

"We could change that you know."

Yokozawa just glared at him and went to wait for Hiyo to come back with a beach ball.

xxx

After lunch, Kirishima got considerably less insistent that Yokozawa go swimming. Hiyo had made a friend and was spending most of her time over with the girl, building sand castles and just all the things that two little girls would do at a beach. Though without Hiyo around, Kirishima had decided it was imperative that he hold Yokozawa's hand despite the many protests. Kirishima would just point out that there were plenty of couples there and questioned why it was different for them, which only served to fluster Yokozawa.

Yokozawa by no means wanted Kirishima to think he was ashamed of him, but he just wasn't the public displays of affection type. He couldn't remember a time when he'd held hands with any of his girlfriend in public let alone kissed them. He'd sometimes been what could pass as affectionate with Takano in public, but it had only ever been in places where no one was watching (well, occasionally Onodera was watching, and that had been entirely intentional).

The conversation he'd had with Kirishima's mother, however, had him thinking.

"Papa, Oniichan!" Hiyo called, running up the beach with the girl and her mother beside her. Yokozawa ripped his hand from Kirishima's, but all Hiyo saw was the warm smile he gave her when she finally got to their place on the sand. "This is Mako-chan, and her mama!"

Yokozawa stayed where he was, but Kirishima stood, being ever the gentleman and probably used to greeting people like they were the most important people in the world. "Hello," he said with a warm smile, bowing with a flourish. "I'm Hiyori's father, Kirishima Zen. This is Yokozawa Takafumi." He held a hand out indicating Yokozawa, who quickly stood up and bowed as well.

"Ito Miyako." The woman bowed as well. "Hiyo-chan and Mako-chan were talking about getting together after today, so I wanted to meet you. She has a lot of good things to say about you two."

Yokozawa glanced over to Hiyo, who was smiling in a sheepish sort of way. Kirishima waved them off with a smile, and they gladly went back down the beach to play.

With her daughter gone, Ito smiled softly before turning to Kirishima. "She's a very nice girl, Kirishima-san. You and your wife must be very proud," she said.

"Ah, my wife was certainly very proud of her. Unfortunately, she passed away several years ago when Hiyo was a bit too young to remember her." Kirishima waved his free hand about in a vague manner like it would enhance his statement. He reached over to grip Yokozawa's with the other and even squeezed it a bit. "Yokozawa here makes a very good mama to Hiyo though, don't you Yokozawa?"

"I've told you not to call me that," Yokozawa said in a dull voice, most of his fight gone. "But at least you admit I take care of your child better than you do."

"Mama, we're out of soda!" Mako-chan called from down the beach, and her mother tore her eyes away from Kirishima and Yokozawa.

"I'm sorry, duty calls," she said with a smile. She took one last glance at the two before saying, "Hiyo-chan is, of course, free to come over whenever she wants. Perhaps we can all get together some time."

Kirishima nodded and watched her leave, and just to piss off Yokozawa, he let go of his hand and fell back on his beach blanket. "Ah, I don't think she likes us," he said with a smile. Yokozawa was silent, so Kirishima added, "Then again, I'm used to people not liking me. I get hateful stares from _you_ every day."

"That's because you're an asshole," Yokozawa said, because sometimes you just needed a bit of the truth.

"I know plenty of people who wouldn't agree with that statement," Kirishima said, continuing to smile. "Then again, I suppose you know me better than they do."

Yokozawa frowned at that. Maybe he did know Kirishima pretty well when it came to things he liked and his habits (and a few other things that couldn't be mentioned in proper company), but there were things he didn't know about the man simply because they were never brought up. He'd spied pictures of the rumored, deceased wife every now and then, but they weren't kept around the apartment out in the open.

Kirishima seemed to sense that Yokozawa was going into gloom mode, so he said, "Relax, Yokozawa, you don't have to have everyone like you."

Yokozawa snorted. "I'm a businessman, I have plenty of enemies."

"Then what's the matter?" When Yokozawa didn't answer, Kirishima shifted closer and said, "If you don't tell me I'll just have to kiss it out of you."

"_Would you not do that_." Yokozawa pushed him away. "I was just… wondering why you never talk about your ex-wife."

The look on Kirishima's face showed that he completely understood the situation, or at least he thought he did. "Ah, I see." Kirishima leaned away, propping himself on his elbows and staring up at the sky. "Do you really want to know about her?"

"Admittedly no." Yokozawa couldn't look Kirishima in the eye. "But she was important to you."

"Ah, yes, true," Kirishima said. "She was quite a woman. But very fragile." Kirishima pushed his bangs out of his eyes with one hand and sighed. "Always getting sick. Not that it let her stop her until the last few days." Then he sighed. "It's been several years, though, and Hiyo doesn't even remember her because she was so young. Maybe I'll tell you the rest some day." He reached over and took Yokozawa's hand. "In the meantime, stop worrying so much. Geeze, you're going to make that furrow between your eyebrows come back."

"You act like it doesn't matter," Yokozawa said, his eyes narrowed.

Kirishima rolled his head around once and said, "She does. She was important to me. But she's gone, and now you're important to me. It's not as if you're a replacement, Yokozawa. If I just wanted a replacement I could've gotten one a long time ago."

"Nice to know," Yokozawa said, remembering all too well how easily he'd gotten women to go out drinking with him in that week he'd been 'looking for a mother for Hiyo.' Yokozawa had his doubts that many of them would have gone with him if they'd known that was his motive, though. He snorted to himself, remembering that he'd used his relationship with Hiyo as reason to go to their apartment before he and Kirishima got together. Perhaps he was just a giant softie when it came down to it.

"Papa, Oniichan!" Hiyo called from down the beach where she and Mako-chan were still playing. "Can we get dinner now? I'm hungry!"

"Our child calls, Yokozawa," Kirishima said with that cocky smirk of his.

All Yokozawa could do was roll his eyes and go on ahead before Kirishima even thought to. Someone needed to take care of the starving ten-year-old, after all.


End file.
